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Rose is eight and Alex is three years old, they both live with their Mum and Step-Dad. The children would often be left home alone with no food in the house due to their parents drinking too much.
Margaret, the children’s grandmother, regularly looked after them and became deeply concerned about the signs of neglect she was witnessing. She didn’t want to call social work services because she was worried about the implications and thought she could hold the family together. But things got worse. When the parents came to collect the children from their grandmother’s one weekend, Rose and Alex clearly didn’t want to go with them.
It was at this point their grandmother realised she couldn’t handle the situation on her own and called the Child Protection Line. The operator explained the process and put her in touch with her local social work office. Later that week a family support worker called in on the family. It was arranged that the children would stay temporarily with their grandmother, while their parents began counselling for alcohol dependency. The children returned home when things were a bit better and still stay with their grandmother regularly. At this stage, it’s still difficult for the family but the children are being monitored to ensure they are being looked after properly.